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Western Balkans Events

Drawing on recent scholarship and addressing recent controversies, John Lampe, traces the saga of Southeastern Europe from the explosive mixture of Balkan states and imperial borderlands before the First World War, through the trials that their successors faced during two world wars, the Cold War, and finally the wars of Yugoslavia's dissolution.

Dr. Mustafa Cerić, Grand Mufti Emeritus of Bosnia and Herzegovina, will address current global geopolitical challenges, notably schisms in the Middle East and its consequences for the European security project and integration of the Western Balkans into European Union and NATO.

Drawing on a recently published larger volume - Strategies of Symbolic Nation-Building in Southeast Europe – Vjeran Pavlakovic will analyze the nation and state building strategies of the Croatian elite since the country attained independence, following the Homeland War, 1991-1995. In his presentation, Pavlakovic will focus on the role of contested narratives and commemorative practices related to the wars of the 20th century in the political arena. The discussion will also address current attitudes and sentiments in Croatia towards the EU, following the country’s accession to the European Union in July, 2013.

In the past two decades, Southeastern Europe has changed dramatically, leaving behind the legacy of the bloody dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and confrontations in the Aegean Sea. Five countries in the region are now members of the EU and seven are NATO members. While the Southeast European mainland is largely at peace, several issues remain and new problems have emerged in the adjacent waters of the Balkan Peninsula. From the Adriatic to the Black Sea, maritime delimitation disputes are engaging the political, diplomatic and legal communities of the countries concerned. The most recent events in Crimea may further complicate the maritime map of the Black Sea. Wilson Center Scholar Agron Alibali will discuss how the spectrum of discussions, negotiations, agreements and adjudications currently underway represents a fascinating new development for international law in general and for international law of the sea in particular in this historical part of the Mediterranean.

What can be expected from the dissatisfied electorate in Bosnia and Herzegovina? What are political parties offering and what difference can their promises make? Is the demand for change going to result in significantly different election results? Would a 'lebanonization' of Bosnia-Herzegovina provide for more prosperous society or societies, or would it lead to final fragmentation?

Past post-conflict justice processes in the Balkan region were comprised of a variety of protagonists, such as governments, international institutions, and civil society. Mechanisms to cope with mass atrocities committed during the conflict in the 1990s included international trials in The Hague, domestic trials in many of the former states of Yugoslavia, and several truth commission attempts. In recent years there has also been a rise in youth activism to confront war crimes.

On October 4, 2012, Bosnia’s National Museum in Sarajevo closed its doors. Another six key cultural institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina likely face the same future, due to uncertain funding and legal status. On October 4, 2012, Bosnia’s National Museum in Sarajevo closed its doors. Another six key cultural institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina likely face the same future, due to uncertain funding and legal status

What drives a state's choice to assimilate, accommodate, or exclude ethnic groups within its territory? In this pathbreaking work on the international politics of nation-building, Harris Mylonas argues that a state's nation-building policies toward non-core groups - any aggregation of individuals perceived as an unassimilated ethnic group by the ruling elite of a state - are inﬂuenced by both its foreign policy goals and its relations with the external patrons of these groups.

The race to build the Southern Energy Corridor to bring Caspian natural gas to Europe is in its final stages. The Shah Deniz consortium in Azerbaijan is set to once and for all decide the long-pending "Nabucco question". How will this improve European energy security? Experts from Baku's Center for Strategic Studies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan gather to discuss this, as well as other pertinent questions at a roundtable discussion co-hosted by the Global Europe Program and the Kennan Institute.

The forced migration of Muslims from the Balkans to Turkey is one of the least known movements of people in modern times. In "A Muslim Tale of Two Cities" Frances Trix focuses on urban Muslims from the central Balkans and the hometown associations they founded in Turkish cities.